Whether or not this is true, WTactualF does it have to do with sport?
Yeah, we don’t need any more swimming races, but does any organization use the sidestroke competitively I wonder? Yes it would probably look rather gay…
Whether or not this is true, WTactualF does it have to do with sport?
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It is true, in a way; the British coined the term “soccer” and still use it regularly, and British people saved their own country in WW2 (with huge help from Americans, Canadians, Russians, etc.)
I’ll be the voice of contention. While I understand the hate for judged events as being subjective they are clearly more of a ‘sport’ than curling, bobsledding, archery or any other activity you can do while smoking.
Swimmers go upside down; at least, some of them do. In the freestyle and backstroke, the swimmers do a flip at the end of the pool and then push off their legs. Your rule would only get rid of the butterfly and breaststroke events, and freestyle and backstroke that are only one length of the pool.
I think most of the sports/games in this thread could be revitalized with the simple addition of two words: full contact.
Let the curlers sharpen their brooms. Swimmers carry a bludgeon. Simultaneous rhythmic gymnastics with spikes in their balls (come to think of it, any mens’ competition where ‘spikes in their balls’ is a possible outcome would surely increase the sport’s intensity).
Hang on a tick – aside from swimming, what Olympic events can’t you do while smoking?
Most of the track & field program, cycling gymnastics, wrestling, just to name a few.
Boxing woudl be pretty difficult, particularly as the gloves would be really cumbersome.
Fencing?
No experience with e-cigs, but could they be used in a pool?
Pretty sure a dedicated smoker could smoke during all of the track and field events (OK, pole vault needs both hands for a bit, but just clamp the smoke in your mouth). and all the cycling events. The smoker would have terrible technique, mind.
I could see someone thinking a gold medal was more important than winning the Australian (or perhaps US) Open. I guess winning the Aussie would be more financially beneficial, though.
BMX. Really? Come on…
Considering he said archery and curling are possible while smoking, clearly needing both hands in not a requirement.
You can’t smoke while curling. The ash dropping on the ice would affect the path of the stone.
BMX - adult men riding little kid bikes.
Basketball - In the U.S. at least we already get Kobe the Rapist and his friends shoved down our throats every single day.
Add me to the list of people who think judged events < objectively measured events.
I’d be interested in someone doing a statistical analysis of which countries do better in judged events, and if it’s statistically significantly different from how they do in non-judged events. Because since 2002 (couples ice dancing) I’ve been convinced much of it is fixed.
I’d never thought about sports where the Olympic medal is not the biggest recognition in the sport. That’s a pretty good rule-of-thumb, but including winter Olympics in the mix, we have a problem. The men’s ice hockey tournament is one of the greatest things about Olympic competition, although a Stanley Cup is probably a bigger deal to an NHL player.
The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius meaning, of course, Faster, Higher, Stronger. If an event doesn’t include at least one of these elements, it should get booted. That would be all of the summer shooting sports, archery, diving, equestrian and curling… basically anything that doesn’t require some degree of genuine physical exertion.
Plus, I agree we dump any sport where judges and “artistic merit” decide the winner. I say we grandfather in gymnastics and figure skating (because they’re wildly popular, have the highest degree of melodrama and go back to the roots of the modern Olympics), but everything else goes.
I actually kind of like handball. Its a sport where the primary defensive move is to draw a foul from the ref - all it does it give the ball back to the team on offense and reset everyone.